Keith Pompey

STAFF WRITER

Keith Pompey has been with our sports team since September 2004. He took over the Sixers beat in the summer of 2013 after covering Temple basketball and football for the previous three years. Pompey also previously covered the Penn and Drexel men’s basketball team and Villanova football team after initially focusing on high school sports.
He is a native Philadelphian, a University of Pittsburgh graduate and a vice president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association.

LOS ANGELES – My look at some of the best and worst performances and happenings from the 76ers’ 111-104 victory over the Lakers on Sunday at the Staples Center:

Best performance:Thaddeus Young gets this award. Sure Lakers reserve guard Nick Young scored a game-high 26 points. Sixers guard Evan Turner, had 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists. But Thaddeus Young was the best player on the court. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound power forward willed the Sixers to their first road victory in 14 games. He muscled his way to 25 points and nine rebounds. He also had three assists, three steals and a blocked shot. Perhaps his best stretch came when he scored consecutive points for his team on a layup and a three-point play to give the Sixers a six-point cushion with 1 minute, 15 seconds remaining.

Worst performance: This goes to Wesley Johnson. The Lakers swingman finished with two points after missing all three of his shot attempts. He also had two turnovers and zero assists in 18 minutes of action. Johnson was just occupying space on the court.

Best performance in a losing effort: No, this doesn’t go to Young aka Swaggy P. His 26 points were impressive. But his six turnovers and 2-for-11 shooting on three-pointers were not. This award goes to Jordan Hill, who started at center. He finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Best defensive performance:Michael Carter-Williams gets this award. The Sixers rookie point guard had a game-high four steals. The 6-foot-6, 185-pounder also had five rebounds – all on the defensive end. Carter-Williams finished with a solid all-around game, tallying 13 points and five assists.

Worst statistic: How can you not give this to Nick Young’s first-quarter shooting? He missed all five of his shots,, including three three-pointers. One long-range attempt was an air ball.

Best statistic: This award goes to the Sixers’ points in the paint. They held a 52-28 points-in-the-paint advantage.

Worst of the Worst: This award goes to the Lakers inability to hold onto the ball. They committed 20 turnovers. Seven came in the second quarter.